Population density varies greatly across Australia. Australia's population density at June 2017 was 3.2 people per square kilometre (sq km). Among the states and territories, the Australian Capital Territory had the highest population density, at 174 people per sq km, followed by Victoria (28), New South Wales (10), and Tasmania (7.7). The remaining states and territories all had population densities below the Australian figure, with the Northern Territory having the lowest at just 0.2 people per sq km.

Seven of the ten most densely-populated SA2s in the country were in Sydney, including Potts Point - Woolloomooloo (16,300 people per sq km), Pyrmont - Ultimo (16,100) and Darlinghurst (14,500). These areas all surround Sydney's central business district.

The most densely-populated SA2 in Australia in 2017 was inner-city Melbourne (19,500 people per sq km). The neighbouring SA2 of Carlton (12,100) also featured in Australia's top ten. In Brisbane, Kangaroo Point (6,800 people per sq km) and nearby New Farm (6,500) had the highest population densities.

At the other end of the scale, 205 SA2s in Australia had population densities of less than 1 person per sq km, the majority of which were in Queensland (46 SA2s), Western Australia (41) and New South Wales (37). The Northern Territory had the highest proportion of SA2s with less than 1 person per sq km, at 26%, followed by Western Australia (16%).

POPULATION DENSITY BY SA2, Australia - June 2017

This product also includes population data in 1km2 grid format. The grid allows population density to be explored for finer, more consistently sized areas than the SA2-based analysis presented above. The population grid is available in three formats under the Downloads tab.